"I thought the draw was really good," I'll Have Another trainer Doug O'Neill said. "I'm very happy with that. Being outside of the legitimate speed, most jockeys would be real happy with that. We're OK with that."

Bodemeister, who led most of the Kentucky Derby, was selected as the morning-line favorite of 8-5. He will break from the No. 7 gate.

"I think it's a good post. With him, anything in the middle would have been fine," Bodemeister trainer Bob Baffert said. "In the Preakness, you just don't want to be stuck down on the inside, where you have to use your horse a little bit. The Derby winner drew well also. Everybody is in a good post."

"Bob Baffert has won five of these; I've never run a horse here. I totally respect that. I'm just hoping that anyone who bets Bodemeister is regretting it Saturday night," ," O'Neill said. "It's in (Bodemeister's jockey) Mike Smith's hands to set the pace. For whatever reason, if he breaks slow or decides not to go, we'll take the lead and take it from there."

"Somebody had to start from the rail, and it looks like it's going to be us. I just read that 15 percent won from there," Tiger Walk trainer Ignacio Correas said. "Most likely, Bodemeister is going to set the pace, and somebody is going to be out there, but it's not going to be us. That's not our style."

A field of 11 horses will break from the gate on Saturday evening from Pimlico Race Course in northwest Baltimore.

Post #

Horse

Trainer

Jockey

Morning-Line Odds

1

Tiger Walk

I. Correas IV

K. Desormeaux

30

2

Teeth of the Dog

M. Matz

J. Bravo

15

3

Pretension

C. Grove

J. Santiago

30

4

Zetterholm

R. Dutrow Jr.

J. Alvarado

20

5

Went the Day Well

G. Motion

J. Velazquez

6

6

Creative Cause

M. Harrington

J. Rosario

6

7

Bodemeister

B. Baffert

M. Smith

8-5

8

Daddy Nose Best

S. Asmussen

J. Leparoux

12

9

I'll Have Another

D. O'Neill

M. Gutierrez

5-2

10

Optimizer

D.W. Lukas

C. Nakatani

30

11

Cozzetti

D. Romans

J. Lezcano

30

Went The Day Well managing partner Barry Irwin: "I think it's good. I didn't want to be on the rail. It's too claustrophobic for him. This is a green horse. He hasn't run too many times, and we didn’t want to have an outside post if we could avoid it, because he’d have veered off to the right. Being in the middle, hopefully it’ll be better."

"This horse, I think he could have won the Derby if he had broken right, but he didn't. Once he broke bad, he caused himself a whole bunch of trouble. We have to make sure the horse gets out of the gate this time. If he does, I think we've got a good shot," Irwin continued.

"This horse has an enormous amount of ability. He can really run. I think everybody saw it there, and hopefully we'll see it again," Irwin said.

Creative Cause trainer Mike Harrington: "It's fine, right in the middle. It doesn't make a whole lot of difference to me. It's a good post; that's all I know."

Scott Blasi, assistant to Daddy Nose Best trainer Steve Asmussen: "I like our draw. This is more like a horse race, not an event, so I like where we're at. He came out of the Derby great, or we wouldn't be here. We thought he trained super into the Derby, and he deserves another chance off of what he's done.

"No excuses last time; it just wasn't our day. We're very proud of the position he's put himself in, and we're looking forward to giving him another chance."

Teeth Of The Dog owner Jose Singer: "It's a long stretch at Pimlico, so I'm OK with post position 2. I want to win. We went into the race thinking that perhaps the two top finishers in the Derby might be off the edge a little bit and bounce a little bit. I've got a lightly raced horse that is fresh and I'm hoping he comes in to collect the spoils."

Zetterholm breeder and principal owner Anthony Grey: "I'm OK with the post position draw. I'm glad I wasn't on the rail. I want to win a big one. He's a late April foal, so he's a late-maturing horse. He's a stretch-running horse. Hopefully, it's our turn to shine."

Pretension trainer Chris Grove: "I don't think the post position will matter to him. It only matters if there's a problem and they're not standing well and don't break well. With 11 instead of 20 in this race, I think it will shape up differently. I won't be too far back as the race shapes up."

Optimizer trainer D. Wayne Lukas: "It's great. I really like it. For the first time in about four years, I really like it. I'm very comfortable with that spot. Bodemeister, Daddy Nose Best and I'll Have Another are all going to tighten up. I'm sitting out there and absolutely love it."

Cozzetti trainer Dale Romans: "I think it's a good spot for him. We can let things materialize inside of him and figure out where we want him to be placed."

LIVE pre-race coverage begins at 1 p.m. Saturday on WBAL-TV 11 and WBALTV.com